Giovanni Pernice: ‘Britain has gone too far into the grips of cancel culture

The circumstances that pre-empted his exit dominated column inches and headlines for months. And they all centred on him and one other person: Amanda Abbington.

The Sherlock actress, 52, had been partnered with Pernice for the 2023 series, something which – rather surprisingly in hindsight – was a pairing encouraged by none other than Pernice himself.

“I wanted a partner with the potential to be a good dancer, and she had plenty of that,” Pernice reveals in his new memoir, Gio: Taking the Lead.

The dancer was hoping for a smoother-sailing series following a fraught and frosty stint with The One Show’s Richie Anderson 12 months earlier. Hopes were soon dashed.

Abbington quit the show early, citing “personal reasons,” and in the weeks and months that followed, it emerged that she was planning official action against her dance partner.

It wasn’t until the following September that, in its own words, the BBC had carried out a “rigorous and robust” review into “allegations of bullying and harassment” alleged by Abbington.

The result? “We have assessed the complaints, and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made,” the statement read.

“We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do.”

Following the investigation, several duty of care measures were implemented. These ranged from a chaperone in rehearsals, weekly welfare meetings, and pre-series psychological reviews.

It transpired that 17 complaints had been lodged against Pernice. Six were upheld, and the Italian dancer was cleared of the most serious allegations. Claims of physical aggression were also not upheld, according to BBC News.

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At the time, both camps claimed victory. Abbington described the findings as “vindication”, while Pernice celebrated the fact that the majority of the allegations were not upheld.

Pernice left the UK to compete on Italian counterpart Ballando con le Stelle, while Abbington has returned to acting work. Yet for both, the Strictly ordeal remains synonymous.

In his new memoir, Pernice provides insight like never before. He alleges the upheld complaints centred predominantly on bad language and a colourful choice of words. Abbington has been prompt in refuting this and calling Pernice’s recollection a “mischaracterisation”.

He also writes how tough he found it to remain quiet during the BBC’s extensive eight-month investigation, especially given that Abbington, meanwhile, had taken part in a handful of press opportunities to promote an upcoming stage show prior to the BBC publishing its findings.

An interview with Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy – who also took part in Strictly 2023 – seemed an apt place to start when I sat down with Pernice earlier this month.

Broadcast in July 2024, a tearful Abbington explained that she “wasn’t able to speak about specifics” amid the investigation, but did confirm Guru-Murthy’s claim that she’d been the victim of “humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature”.

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“It was very hard. It was very, very hard,” Pernice told me when asked how he remained quiet in light of such a claim.

“I was surrounded by good lawyers that was telling me what to do. But, God, I wanted to talk. God, I wanted to be there on that sofa with her too. It was hard to watch.”

He claimed that Guru-Murthy has asked him for an interview, something Pernice declined because “I played by the rules – don’t talk about anything until the investigation is finished.”

Both Pernice and Abbington said at the time that the “rules” set out by the BBC centred on them not commenting on the intricacies of the investigation. Abbington reiterated this in her Channel 4 interview.

Recalling the allegations made by Abbington in the Channel 4 interview, however, Pernice didn’t mince his words. He felt Abbington “tried to ruin my career”.

He went on: “But in actual fact, it was the opposite, in the sense that the general public never left my side in everything I did.

“I did two sold-out tours last year. That tells you everything you need. I didn’t ask for loss of earnings after the event. And meanwhile…” he pointedly paused, “somebody else was at home.”

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Pernice repeated the claim in his memoir. In a passage criticising the BBC’s aforementioned statement, Pernice wrote that he felt Abbington’s “claims had ruined my life and my career, and driven me to the brink of suicide,” before asking: “Where was my apology?”

Abbington has previously spoken out against the suggestion that she tried to “ruin” Pernice’s career prospects. Speaking to Newsnight in October 2024, she said she loved Strictly and “never wanted to cause trouble”.

“I never wanted to bring down a show or ruin anybody’s career. All I did was experience something in a workplace environment that was actually on a show run by a corporation that is owned by the public, and I didn’t want anybody else to go through what I had gone through,” she said. Abbington’s team has been contacted for comment on Pernice’s latest claims.

Meanwhile, a source close to Abbington has told GB News: “It’s total nonsense to suggest Amanda set out to destroy anyone’s career. She’s always dreamed of appearing on Strictly and did everything she could to make it a success.

“But in the end, that became impossible, and the results of the BBC investigation speak for themselves. This whole affair has had a devastating impact on Amanda and led to threats against her and her family. She’s just focussed on moving on with her life and her career.”

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As mentioned, during his period of silence amid the investigation, Pernice was driven to his lowest ebb. His memoir details how his physical health took a back seat and his mental battles left him on the brink of suicide.

The feeling of being “cancelled” pushed him further than he’d ever been before. He credits then-girlfriend Molly Brown for helping him through the other side.

Abbington, meanwhile, says she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after her time on the show. Pernice found that surprising.

“I didn’t know what PTSD was. I took time to do some research when the first article came out about PTSD. At first, I felt sorry because I thought, ‘Oh my god, if she felt that way, I must have done something very, very wrong,'” he admitted to me.

“If I felt you had a bad time in the room, I would’ve even apologised myself. Look at Laura Whitmore. We didn’t like each other. We went through with it for eight or nine weeks, and then we moved on. That’s it.

“This is what I’d have said to Amanda.”

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With headline after headline emerging, did he feel like he was in the grip of the beast that is cancel culture? “Absolutely. Absolutely. I still feel that right now,” he replied.

Pernice was quick to state that he finds the toxic atmosphere of cancel culture indicative of the UK as a whole. Writing in his book, Pernice detailed how in Italy “you’re allowed to be yourself”, a quality that he says is lost in today’s climate.

In his interview with GB News, he explained: “I still think this country went too far to the other side. I understand when it comes to respecting people, and we respect people in Italy as well. But I just think here, everything is too much of, ‘Oh, I can’t talk to you that way,’ or when people want to say something bad about this person, they just whisper because they don’t want to be honest.”

“Or it could be the way I look at you, or the way I touch you… I remember my cardiologist said to me, ‘I was sued by a lady. I was checking a heartbeat, and she sued me for sexual harassment because I touched her boob’.

“Because there were no chaperones in the room, he lost the case. This is the way those things are going right now. We’re going way too far.”

For all of its controversy and scandal, it’s why Pernice holds the infamous “Strictly Curse” as a sign of better times.

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“The Strictly curse was a beautiful thing about the show; everybody wanted to know about the Strictly curse and who was getting on with who, and where the romance would be in this couple. I don’t think there can be a Strictly curse anymore because the person doesn’t feel able to let it go between the couples anymore,” he explained.

“I remember when I did the Strictly curse myself,” – he dated actress Georgia May-Foote in his debut year – “the only time we were ourselves was when we were alone in the room, so I could be stupid with this person and we could connect more.”

He went on to The People’s Channel: “Now, there’s always somebody 24 hours watching you in the room, and everybody’s worried about how close they get or the way they touch in the dance. So there’s not going to be any chemistry anymore.

“You know that already there is going to be somebody saying, ‘Oh, don’t get too close. Oh, don’t touch that way. Oh, don’t do this.’ So the beauty of dancing is from the connection in the couple.

“And unfortunately, they’re taking away the beauty of this. Italy is different… But I think here (in Britain), we (as a society acts) a bit too far off of just everybody’s word.”
Pernice cites a marked change in Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood’s demeanour as another stark example of today’s pandering to cancel culture and political correctness.

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“It’s all very sanitised now,” Pernice said of today’s climate, but when it comes to behind the scenes of the BBC show, the Italian paints a different picture.

“Like when we say ‘Strictly family’, is it ‘Strictly family’? Everybody’s there for the same reason. We’re all competitive; we all want to win. So stop with this fluffiness around and, ‘Oh, we are a big family. We love each other.’ It’s all bulls**t,” he said.

“Some people really get along, as I did with Rose [Ayling-Ellis] and with Debbie McGee. But then, some other people, some other times you don’t really get along with these people, and you just manage to get along because that’s your job.”

While a sense of being “cancelled” may still linger for Pernice, he’s keen to set one thing straight: he wasn’t sacked by the BBC.

He made the distinction clear when I asked if he was able to seek support from fellow Italian pro Graziano Di Prima, who was axed from the show. A spokesperson for Di Prima had confirmed subsequent reports that he “kicked” his former celebrity partner, Zara McDermott.

“There is never a time when kicking, or any sense of that, is right,” Di Prima’s representative Mark Borkowski told BBC News. “And he knows that. He knows he’s made a mistake. He apologised at the time.”

“I deeply regret the events that led to my departure from Strictly. My intense passion and determination to win might have affected my training regime,” Di Prima also added in a separate statement.

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“No, no, no. He was fired; I wasn’t. So that’s a very important thing,” Pernice promptly corrected me when I described their situations as “similar”. The BBC declined to comment when asked about Di Prima’s departure.

“So being fired is when they say to you, ‘You can’t work with us anymore. And you can’t do that show in any other country.’ Because Strictly is the owner of the format, and then they rent it to other countries. But the main ‘mothership’ is in the UK.

“So if the UK says you can’t have this guy, or you can have this guy, they’re the ones deciding. So if I was fired from Strictly, I wouldn’t be able to do Italy.”

Life back home in Italy has proven advantageous. Pernice won his debut series of Ballando con le Stelle alongside broadcaster and now-girlfriend, Bianca Guaccero, 45.

“It definitely was a personal revenge (to win) because I showed that – my teaching style, I took it, put it in a different position, and it worked,” he told me with a grin.

“Plus, all the 10s on Strictly, and all the most memorable moments on Strictly, and the earliest 40 in Strictly history are still by me, which means something. I know what to do. Something must be working for nine years, right?”

“I now go to a different place, and I will do exactly the same thing, and I will win the show, and I will make records all day. Every week, 10s.

“My point is not to blow my own trumpet, but there was a small, small revenge. I said to Bianca when I met her, I said, ‘This is what’s going to happen? This is what you’re gonna do. You wanna win the show? Just let me lead. Let me lead. I promise you, you will win the show.'”

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According to Pernice, Guaccero shared his position that the ordeal in the UK was “all a bit too much”. Pernice once again put the sentiment down to being a “culture thing”.

Our conversation came full circle as the topic of cancel culture reemerged, with Pernice saying: “I’m not sitting here and saying I’m a victim in all this situation. I’m not a victim because if those were the rules, not to use the F-word or whatever, then I broke the rules.”

Pernice felt he “was supposed to get a yellow card and move on” for his actions. He added: “But for sure, it wasn’t a big enough reason to cancel me.”

And despite the backing from the public and his determination to escape the clutches of cancel culture, there was a sense of dejection at the realisation that the saga had cost him the career he loved in the UK.

“Now, I’ve got difficulty finding a job in UK TV,” he signed off.

Following the claims made in his memoir, a spokesperson for Abbington told GB News: “Mr Pernice has persisted in trying to reframe the BBC investigation and the findings that it made against him.

“To suggest he has not been given the chance to give his side of the story is ludicrous, given the thorough investigation conducted by the BBC, which he was part of, but unsurprisingly seems unhappy with the outcome.

“To suggest that the finding against him related only to use of swear words is also wrong, but both parties were asked to keep the contents of the investigation report confidential.

“Following the investigation, the BBC apologised to me and paid me substantial compensation, that speaks for itself.”

GB News has contacted Abbington’s representative for further comment on Pernice’s latest claims. The BBC declined to comment but cited an improvement to its duty of care measures.